Weekly Digest from the West

-91st Academy Awards winners: https://oscar.go.com/news/winners/oscar-winners-2019-live-updates-to-come

-What to Expect From Disney+ and the Fox Merger, According to Disney Film Chief Alan Horn: “With Fox, we can make movies that right now I say no to,” Horn said. “The audience for a Disney movie may not know what they are going to see, but they know what they aren’t going to see. There are certain things we just can’t include because we’ll get letters.” 20th Century Fox, who is behind such films as the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody, the box office behemoth Avatar, and others, generally has fewer qualms about adult-oriented fare than Disney, which has had to maintain a family-friendly standard for much of its history. “To take over a major motion picture studio with a storied history and a hundred years of history is a very bold move,” Horn said. “And the second reaction was, ‘OK, how do we assimilate this into one company and have it function productively, and how do we actually make this work in practice going forward?’” But will that hands off approach continue? Disney began much that same way with its other studios Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar, but there’s no denying that a more family-friendly bent has begun to proliferate in Marvel and Star Wars movies. But perhaps that will change as Disney continues to expand into streaming with Disney+. As Disney readies itself to dive into the streaming wars, Horn recounts how he told Sean Bailey, “I have good news. You can now make a McFarland, U.S.A. again.” He explained, “That was an example of a wonderful movie that lost money. But this is the perfect vehicle for that kind of movie.” With Disney+, Horn said that the company can begin taking risks again. “The thing about these big movies is they get a lot of attention, whether positive or negative,” Horn said. “So when they don’t work, like Solo, the media says it’s a failure.” Now Disney+ is a chance for all the studios, not just Disney, to use the streaming service to test out new ideas that could be financial or creative risks. Horn said: And the people at Disney Animation and Pixar are saying, “What can we do?” Everyone wears an additional hat now. Bob has said the service is now his No. 1 priority. Netflix and companies like Amazon represent the great disruption in our business and a seismic shift in consumer offerings and viewing patterns. The interesting thing, which is not resolved yet, is how big is the consumer appetite for these incremental services? I like our chances.

https://www.slashfilm.com/disney-future-projects-streaming-fox-alan-horn/

-Apple is arming up to redefine TV just like it did the phone: Apple is on the cusp of launching a major new product: A TV viewing experience that is dizzying in scope, and unlike anything on the market. Much more than just a streaming service, Apple’s new vision hopes to encompass both live TV and on-demand video, and be accessible on virtually any screen. It’s aimed to be deeply personalized, delivering recommendations based on a variety of factors, including what you’ve watched, where you live, and where you’re located at the moment you use the service. It will be a competitor to — and in some cases a partner of — existing streaming services. And it might already be built into your TV. While no one can say for sure what Apple will or won’t launch, the following is a description of what we believe is Apple’s long-term strategy when it comes to TV. It’s based largely on the contents of a 113-page patent issued to Apple under the title “TV Side Bar User Interface” that was published on February 5, 2019(https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/apple-tv-patent/). Some of the elements might seem outlandish, and we acknowledge that sometimes a patent is just a patent and not a product road map. Nonetheless, the level of detail in that patent is remarkable, and much of it feels logical, if not wholly practical. Apple’s new service aims to become the ultimate video aggregator, pulling in content from a wide variety of sources. Though its ambitions in this area will be limited by the deals it can strike with players like cable, satellite, streaming video, and live TV companies, Apple is expected to build an infrastructure that will be capable of hosting everything. In theory, even the free over-the-air (OTA) local broadcasts could be captured. Using a massive collection of content servers — positioned strategically around the country — as its backbone, Apple could theoretically become the single largest warehouse of licensed video content, period. With Apple’s servers acting as the repository for all of this content, its network becomes the ultimate DVR. Apple TV’s electronic program guide (EPG) will look a lot like the ones you’re familiar with, but it will have a few distinctive features. It will aggregate all of the channels you have access to, whether from cable, satellite, live TV streaming, or potentially even local OTA broadcasts if Apple has better luck than other ventures at navigating the FCC rules. If Apple determines you have access to an episode airing later in the day, it could suggest you watch it through one of your on-demand subscriptions. With Apple’s Friends feature, you’ll be able to pull your friends’ profiles from social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter, and see what they’re watching. Friends can set their own level of privacy to share all or none of their activity. “Close” friends will have their own Apple TV landing pages on which you can see more extensive profile info, as well as options for text, audio, and video calling. TV shows and movies will also have landing pages, and these will act as hubs for things like cast and crew lists, related shows and movies, and even extra content like director commentaries, behind-the-scenes videos, and cast interviews. Even individual episodes of a show may have this level of detail.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/what-to-expect-from-apple-tv-streaming-service/

-Roku expects to make $1 billion in revenue this year: Roku’s advertising business continues to grow, and so does its control over the ads running on its connected TV platform. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Roku’s platform revenue — which includes advertising revenue — continued to exceed revenue from the sale of devices running Roku’s connected TV platform, which Roku categorizes as “player revenue.” And in 2018 the number of video ads that Roku was responsible for selling was more than double the number it sold in 2017, according to a letter to shareholders that the company published on Feb. 21. “In just the last 18 months Roku users streamed more than they did in the prior nine years of the company’s history,” according to the company’s letter to shareholders. Given that Roku typically controls 30 percent of the ad impressions in ad-supported apps on its platform, the increase in streaming hours likely corresponds to an increase in ad inventory available to Roku, but it’s unclear how much of an increase. Roku didn’t share how much time people spent streaming ad-supported videos, let alone videos that Roku can sell ads against. Netflix is likely to be among the most popular apps on Roku but doesn’t carry ads. And Hulu is also probably pretty popular, but the ad-supported streaming service does not allow Roku to sell ads in its app. The Roku Channel has been part of Roku’s push to control ad sales on its platform. The ad-supported channel’s launch in September 2017 marked the beginning of “a fundamental transition to increase video advertising inventory under our control,” the company said in its shareholder letter. The Roku Channel features roughly 10,000 movies and TV episodes that people can watch for free and live programming from ABC News, Cheddar and others, and in January 2019, Roku began to sell a la carte subscriptions to Showtime, Starz and Epix to watch those channels’ content through the Roku Channel, which can be accessed through Roku’s connected TV platform as well its mobile apps. In a pitch deck that Roku shared with ad buyers last year, the company said Roku Channel was the third-biggest ad-supported app on its platform.

https://digiday.com/media/cheatsheet-roku-expects-make-1-billion-ad-revenue-year/

-Verizon says mobile 5G network will cover over 30 U.S. cities in 2019: One day after confirming that it will be the first carrier to offer Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G phone, Verizon today announced that it will launch its mobile 5G network in over 30 U.S. cities during 2019. The announcement represents the first quantification of the carrier’s 5G expansion plans after it debuted a pre-standards 5G network in October 2018. Currently, Verizon is not confirming the list of cities, but two clusters are virtually certain to be included: four cities where the carrier is already offering home 5G broadband service, and three additional cities that were included on a recent list of 5G educational contest winners. That would make Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, and Sacramento the most likely initial candidates. As previously reported, Verizon is referring to its combined home and mobile 5G offering as the “5G Ultra Wideband Network,” and focusing substantially on the high-bandwidth, low-latency potential of millimeter wave radio spectrum. In an interview with VentureBeat at CES, Verizon network engineering VP Mike Haberman indicated that the company’s goal was to offer 5G performance superior to its rivals, even if that meant relying on numerous high-speed small cells rather than larger but slower cellular towers. That strategy has created both engineering and political challenges for the carrier. After launching 5G Home in reportedly small parts of four cities, the carrier paused its rollout to wait for standards-compliant 5G hardware releases. It has also asked for customer assistance in efforts to convince local officials to hasten 5G deployments, as each of the small cells needs to be approved for a specific location by a city or town.

https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/21/verizon-says-mobile-5g-network-will-cover-over-30-u-s-cities-in-2019/

-Netflix’s Marvel Cancellations Signal Start of the New Streaming World Order: Netflix and Marvel’s decision to terminate their five-year (and six-series) relationship is the most telling sign of the new world order in the streaming era. The streamer on Monday axed The Punisher and Jessica Jones, the latter of which has yet to air its third season. Those join Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist (and limited mash-up mini The Defenders) as Netflix's partnership with Marvel has officially come to an end. And while the two companies had, until recently, enjoyed a drama-free pact, Netflix’s move was hardly unexpected given the current streaming landscape. As media behemoths like Disney, Comcast and WarnerMedia enter the streaming business, each conglomerate is now faced with the same multimillion-dollar question: Keep their scripted originals and library content for themselves or continue to license shows — like Jessica Jones (owned by Disney), The Office (Comcast) and Friends (Warner) — to friend-turned-rival Netflix. Put simply: Netflix did not have an ownership stake in any of its Marvel TV series. Each of the six Marvel shows was owned by Disney. Netflix paid ABC Studios a (steep) licensing fee for each season of its respective series. While those licensing fees lined Disney's coffers, the Mouse House — like other conglomerates (and Netflix) — is increasingly focused on owning its own content. What's more, Disney is increasingly focused on populating its upcoming service — Disney+ — with content and announced back in August 2017 plans to pull its Marvel feature films from Netflix. Disney and Marvel executives have also indicated that the canceled Netflix fare could live again on Disney+. To further illustrate how Disney is pulling back its Marvel TV properties for its own platforms, look no further than the rest of the comic book giant's scripted fare. Agents of SHIELD was Marvel's first live-action scripted series. The ABC drama — which now has shockingly outlived all of the Netflix series — has been a perennial bubble show despite the fact that the network owns it. The series scored a rare early seventh-season renewal for the 2019-2020 broadcast season — before its sixth season even aired. Disney-owned Freeform airs Cloak and Dagger (produced by ABC Signature). Hulu this month announced a slate of four animated Marvel comedies (and a mash-up special aptly named The Offenders).

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/why-jessica-jones-punisher-were-canceled

-Amazon’s New Film Strategy: Straight-to-Service Titles and Starry Sundance Buys: It was close to midnight when Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke got the text. The company had failed in its quest to acquire “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” a body image dramedy that captivated Salke when she saw it at Sundance. A sales agent on the project messaged her to say that a competitor offered a higher number, and unless Amazon stepped up significantly with its bid, the company would be out of the running. But Salke would not budge on the price, and collapsed into bed defeated. Then she remembered her pitch meeting with “Brittany” writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo, who a day earlier said his father worked at an Amazon fulfillment center in Missouri. She looked him up on the company phone directory, screen-grabbed his profile and sent it back to the sales agent asking, “Doesn’t this count for a few million?” Minutes later her phone rang. It was the film’s executive producer, the actor Tobey Maguire. Amazon was getting the film. “It was Tobey and he was crying. He said, ‘I’m just really emotional. We looked at you the minute you walked in the door, and I knew looking at your face that you loved the movie.’ We all bonded over that process. That was really gratifying,” Salke told Variety, over a lengthy recent conversation about the past six months she’s spent quietly retooling her film division and her hopes for the future. Nestled in her West L.A. Culver Studios executive suite (outfitted in California-casual decor with gold accents and natural fibers) with her top film lieutenants beside her, Salke made one thing abundantly clear: Amazon is still very much in the movie business. The former NBC Entertainment chief joined the tech giant a year ago, in a role she inherited from Roy Price, who had been ousted over alleged sexual harassment. There was speculation she wasn’t as interested in film, rumors that grew in intensity after Amazon fielded flops such as “Beautiful Boy” and “Suspiria.” After 12 months on the job, Salke is ready to reveal her strategy for making movies. It includes a mixture of prestige pictures she says will continue to be shepherded by motion picture production head Ted Hope and distribution chief Bob Berney, as well as more commercial projects that will be overseen by Julie Rapaport, a co-head in the film division. The are no plans to replace former film head Jason Ropell, who stepped down last year. The studio is keen to acquire finished films, but says it will also keep producing its own movies. In addition, Amazon will start making films that will debut exclusively on its Prime subscription service and will forgo theatrical release. “I first turned my attention to the TV group and that took a lot of reorganizing and time,” Salke said. “I spent six months embedded in there, trying to make sure we had the right teams. At the same time, we aggressively tried to bring in talent and get our message out about who we are as a home for talent. It’s a curated approach in both [film and TV], and we’re not going extremely broad,” she said.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/amazon-jennifer-salke-film-strategy-1203142030/